Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting
by crimson-ash-1
Summary: This follows Ginny and Neville through the Hogwarts year when Harry isn't there. From the Wedding to the Battle of Hogwarts, this tells what JKR didn't include in her books.
1. Prologue

**Hi guys!  
This is my first fanfiction, so reviews would be really useful. This is basically set during the year that Harry isn't in Hogwarts. It'll follow ginny and Neville around. I do not own Harry Potter, because if I did I would be writing more books rather than fanfiction :) .  
Please read and review :) !**

_The ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming._

Tossing her fiery red hair over her shoulder, Ginny ran around the wedding tent, echoing her father's shout:

"Protego".

With a sigh, she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione disapparate, but forcibly reminded herself that they would, at least, be getting somewhere safe. The mixture of Death Eaters and Ministry workers that were gate crashing her brother's wedding were breaking down the Burrow's protection easily.

It took choice words from both Fred and Dad before she lowered her wand, panting. She realised that they'd never had much hope of keeping out the Death Eaters, with the full might of the Ministry behind them, and that the Order's objectives had simply been to hold out long enough to get the wedding guests to safety.

When Ginny was feeling slightly calmer, she let the ghoul out of the attic and into Ron's pigsty-that-he-called-a-bedroom. The ghoul was wearing Ron's pyjamas, and had his Weasley hair ruffled and crumpled. Most alarmingly, it had a number of huge purple pustules, the typical signs of spattergroit, so Ron's absence with Harry would go unnoticed. Ginny wondered briefly whose idea the ghoul had been (it seemed to have Fred and George stamped all over it) and then collected herself to head back downstairs to the Ministry and Death Eaters.

"Hi love," her father greeted her, "these men have got a couple of questions to ask you."

Both men had blue builder's costumes on, the taller had fair hair and blue eyes, the other had dark hair, eyes and the beginnings of a beard. He was drumming a stubby wand on his knee, but then, looking up, he asked the first question.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Undesirable Number One?"

"Undesirable–"

"Number One, yes. Harry Potter. Where is he?"

"No idea" Ginny told him evenly.

"Who are his accomplices?"

"I don't know."

"Where can I find the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Refraining to tell him that he was in it, Ginny replied

"I'm sorry, Mr–"

"Dolohov"

"... Mr Dolohov, but I don't seem able to help you. Now if you don't mind, I have a seriously sick brother upstairs that I'm supposed to be watching over. And there's no point trying to question him, the Spattergroit has stopped him from being able to talk."

However, just as she reached the door, both men made an identical twitch with their left arms.

"Just wait, you little..." Dolohov threatened before disapparating with a faint _pop_. The silent fair haired man scowled at her before disappearing after his colleague with a slightly louder _pop_. As Ginny walked out of the room, she bumped into Mr Weasley, who was just coming past.

"They've gone." She told him. "I recognise them from the old wanted posters now. Antonin Dolohov, and Thorfinn Rowle."

"Good girl," he replied, "Molly says you're to go to the kitchen now you're finished; it's nearly tea time."

-XxX-

Lying in bed that night, staring at the moonlit ceiling, she considered the events of the day. Bill had married Fleur and both had left for the safety of Shell Cottage. Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone off on their quest to kill Voldemort and the Horcruxes. They thought she didn't know, but with Fred and George's extendable ears, she had eavesdropped on their conversation for quite a while a few nights ago before the floorboards creaked, and she had to tiptoe quickly back to bed.

Being questioned by two Death Eaters hadn't been much of a surprise after what had happened at the wedding, after all, she was Harry Potter's girlfriend. _He broke up with me_, she remembered sadly, though she knew that if he defeated Voldemort and met her again, he would forget that they had broken up. Because of this, she considered it more of a pause for her safety than anything else, which angered her because it hadn't kept from being interrogated by Death Eaters, and everybody seemed to assume that she needed protection- which she didn't!

Wishing to discuss this with her friends, Neville and Luna, the first of September couldn't come quickly enough in her mind.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

"Bye Mum," Ginny said, "Bye Dad".

Carefully extracting herself from Mrs Weasley's enveloping hug, she pecked Mr Weasley on the cheek before picking up her trunk and dragging it over to Neville, who was waiting for her at the door to one of the compartments. Clambering into the train (gallantly assisted by Neville, who safely stowed her trunk next to his own) she gave a final smile and wave to her parents, and the Hogwarts express picked up speed, turned a corner, and then she could see her parents no more.

Settling back into her seat, she exchanged a few idle words with Neville until Luna, Seamus and Ernie slid open the door and joined them,

"So, what do you reckon?" Seamus asked. "The greasy haired Snape-bat as headmaster?"

Before Ginny could answer, Neville gagged on the chocolate frog he'd just bitten.

"Snape? I thought... McGonagall... what?" he spluttered.

"I say, old boy, haven't you seen the Daily Prophet?" Ernie asked.

"Gran stopped getting it when it started printing rubbish about Harry and Dumbledore" Neville answered miserably. "That was a couple of years ago."

"You do know You-Know-Who has returned, don't you?" Ginny joked. "But seriously, Neville, they've taken over the Ministry, forced their way into Bill's wedding – did you get back okay, Luna? – and they've out an imperius curse on Pius Thicknesse, the new Minister for Magic, because they've killed Scrimgeor."

Seamus chimed in: "Meanwhile, they've made Snape headmaster at Hogwarts, and his two friends, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, are going to teach Dark Arts and Muggle Studies respectively."

Luna smiled serenely at Neville.

"If you don't like the Daily Prophet, you could always try reading the Quibbler. Daddy thinks it is very important to support Harry and tell the wizarding world the truth."

She turned back to the latest issue of the magazine, flipped it upside down and lost interest in the conversation. Ginny saw that she was right: Harry's smiling face wasn't captioned 'Undesirable Number One' like the Daily Prophet, but 'Support Harry Potter, the Chosen Boy who Lived'. Ginny remembered the 'Support Cedric Diggory' badges from her third year, the captions were similar.

"Well, it's good to know someone has the right idea about Harry." Ernie commented, to general nods of agreement.

They stopped talking as the compartment door opened.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

-XxX-

A couple of hours later, with pockets lighter and stomachs fuller, the Ginny and Luna left to find another compartment, so that the boys could change into their robes. Spotting Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Su Li, Padma and Parvati Patil, Ginny and Luna opened the door and squeezed in.

Upon seeing them, both Padma and Su Li gave triumphant shouts.

"We were having a vote," Parvati explained, "about the best house. Hannah and Susan are badgers. Ginny, you and I think Gryffindor, and Su and my sister unsurprisingly support Ravenclaw."

"This makes it even," Padma interrupted, "but with Luna as well, Ravenclaw has the most supporters here."

Ginny glanced at Luna, who was examining the ceiling with a dreamy smile.

"_For our Hogwarts is in danger,_

_From external deadly foes,_

_And we must all unite inside her,_

_Or we'll crumble from within._" Luna murmured.

"I'm neutral" She spoke louder, "which makes a draw."

As everybody groaned, she stood up.

"Don't let the nargles bite!"

And she slid open the door and skipped off down the train. Ginny laughed at her friend's leaving comment, and at everybody else's bemused faces. Her laugh was infectious, and soon they were all laughing together. Struck by a brilliant idea, she spoke up:

"Well, I'm off to rejoin Neville. Hannah, do you want to come?"

Giggling at Hannah's blushing face, she followed Luna out into the corridor.


	3. The New Regime

As Ginny sat in the thestral-pulled carriages on her way up the drive to the castle, surrounded by friends, she noticed that she didn't have her traditional feeling of coming home. As the dementors that were patrolling the grounds sucked the happiness out of her and her friends, they slowly quietened. By the time the carriages pulled up outside the castle doors, she could have heard a pin drop.

Filing slowly into the hall, jabbed now and again by Filch's Secrecy Sensor, Ginny saw that the Dementors weren't the only things that had changed in her school.

"How dare he sit where Dumbledore sat?" she whispered to Neville, who was glaring murderously at Snape as well.

As she sat at the Gryffindor table, she noticed other changes to the teachers. Hagrid was missing from the table, as was Professor Burbage, the old Muggle Studies teacher. Alecto Carrow sat on Snape's left, whilst Amycus sat on his right. Professor Flitwick was making very pointed conversation with Professor Sprout, ignoring Amycus completely.

There was one more empty seat, which Ginny realised belonged to Professor McGonagall, who was just entering the Great Hall, shepherding the first years with her. She was smiling kindly, though the first years still looked very petrified. However, Ginny could see a couple of extra worry-lines on her head of house's face, which hadn't been there last year.

Breaking the silence that had descended on the Hall, the Sorting Hat began its song.

"When I was newly sewn,

And Hogwarts was my home,

An important role I've had to play,

For every year since that day,

When Godric Gryffindor –"

"Yeah, yeah" Amycus interrupted, silencing the hat with a flick of his wand, "all yeh lot need t'know is that yeh'll live longer in Slytherin. Ravenclaws are dimwits, Hufflepuffs: softies. Gryffindors..." he spat on the ground. "Now then, which of yeh 'orrible lot is firs' ?"

McGonagall, her mouth a thin slit, picked up the scroll with the list of names on.

"Addams, Sarah"

When the hat announced her Hufflepuff, the entire house gave her a standing ovation, to make up from the less than warm welcome she had received so far. However, Snape rose from the headmaster's chair.

"Silence. Miss Addams, take your seat. Now."

The hall quietened once more, and the trembling first year scurried over to the table and sat down in the nearest seat. Ginny exchanged looks with Luna, over at the Ravenclaw table, and Hannah at the Hufflepuff. Things around here have definitely changed for the worse, Ginny thought to herself. It wasn't until the evening of the next day that she realised just how right she was.

-XxX-

"Merlin's beard!" Ginny shrieked, sending homework scrolls flying as she dashed to the portrait hole to catch Seamus as he fell through it. Pushing a couple of the first years off one of the couches, she and Neville laid Seamus down on it. His nose was bleeding, his cheek cut and a bruise was rapidly forming on his temple, but worst was his shirt, which was drenched in blood. Parvati ran out of the door, calling over her shoulder

"I'm going to get Padma and Su, they're best at healing spells."

Ginny staunched his nosebleed and healed his cheek as they waited for Parvati to return with the Ravenclaws.

"I've grown up with six brothers. I can do simple healing spells easily. But I wouldn't like to try healing his serious wounds." She told an astonished Neville.

As they moved away from Seamus to give Padma, Parvati and Su Li some space, Ginny looked at Neville enquiringly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Seamus mouthed off to Alecto in Muggle Studies. She was talking about Muggles being an inferior race, with 'dirty blood', it was sick. Seamus was quivering with rage. He asked her how much 'dirty blood' her and her brother have. Apparently they've been put in charge of discipline. Anyone who crosses them gets the Cruciatus curse used on them."

Ginny gasped.

"You mean, he got like that, through an illegal curse put on him by a teacher?"

Neville nodded grimly.

"That's exactly what I mean. He thrashed against the desk, which how he did his face, and then he started scratching himself, like there was something hurting him, you know, _inside_ him. Then, Alecto forbid him from being taken to Madam Pomfrey. 'What's the point of hurting him if he'll be alright straight away?' she said."

"That's disgusting. We should tell someone. McGonagall, anyone."

Neville shook his head miserably.

"That's the point, if we do that, it'll be admitting defeat. She's smart enough to work it out soon enough by herself, soon enough, but we can't tell her."

"What can we do, then?" Ginny asked, burying her head in Neville's chest.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it. We'll restart Dumbledore's Army!"

The common room fell silent. Parvati started clapping. Ginny joined in. Su Li gave a standing ovation. Padma joined her. Seamus brought his hands together once, winced, but then kept clapping. Slowly, all the Gryffindors, Su Li and Padma were clapping Neville's ingenious idea.


	4. Dumbledore's Army

**Hi guys. Sorry this chapter is fairly short. Please read and review. And thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed, it really made my day :).**

"_Well, it's obvious, isn't it. We'll restart Dumbledore's Army!"_

Ginny, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, Colin, Ernie, Hannah, Susan, Terry, Anthony, Michael, Luna and more; they sat down, excited and happy. Neville stood up, the expectant faces of his fellow students in the Room of Requirement did nothing to help his nerves.

"I think you all know why you're here." He told the small crowd. "The Carrows have been using illegal curses on students as punishment, and we couldn't take that lying down."

The student nodded in agreement and turned to each other, whispers flying around the room.

"This is the first official meeting of Dumbledore's Army." Ginny broke in "As such, we're going to need to sort out a few things, including members, leaders, and secrecy. It would be useful if we had a list of names, so we know who to contact, etc. Could you pass the quill and parchment around, Neville?"

Everybody wrote their names and house on the parchment, although a few seemed slightly nervous about doing so.

"Secondly, we need to think about leadership. Harry's still Leader-in-Chief, but we won't be able to contact him, so we're going to need a new leader."

"Neville!" one of Ravenclaws at the back shouted, who was soon joined with other cries for him to lead.

Neville looked sidelong at Ginny. "I can't lead this many people. I'm just a clumsy idiot who explodes cauldrons."

Smiling encouragingly at Neville, Ginny spoke again. "Let's vote on it. Everybody in favour of Neville taking leadership of Dumbledore's Army, please raise your hand."

The vote was unanimous, although Zacharias Smith raised his hand a few seconds after everybody else, looking very uncomfortable.

"Err, hi." Neville said. "I don't think I'll be able to manage leadership very well on my own, though, so I'd like two Lieutenants from each house, to relieve some of the strain. They would, err, also be able to communicate messages to the rest of the house if circumstances mean we can't all meet here again. If that's okay, I'd like to appoint Ginny Weasley and Seamus Finnigan for Gryffindor, Luna Lovegood and Terry Boot for Ravenclaw, and Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott for Hufflepuff."

As the six Lieutenants stood up, Neville spoke again.

"This means that if any of you have any problems you can go to them as well as to me, because it might be harder for other houses to find me and stuff, but if you tell any of the Lieutenants, well, they'd be able to tell me, I think we'd probably meet more regularly than everybody. You see, nobody would notice seven of us disappearing, but if the entire thirty of us disappear at the same time every week, it might start getting slightly suspicious."

"Here, here" called Colin Creevey, and everybody laughed.

"And finally, secrecy. How can we meet in safety, and make sure nobody finds us out?" Ginny asked the crowd. "I was thinking we could continue to meet here, maybe once a week. I'd like it every day," there were cheers at this "but we don't want to be disappearing _too_ often. Remember you can always contact your Lieutenants."

"Okay, it's nearing curfew again, so I'm going to set some homework. Try to find a way that we can keep this secret. I've not jinxed the parchment we all signed, so we're working on a trust basis here. Don't let me down." Neville said.

"You mean, like the fidelius charm?" Luna asked.

"Exactly like that. We need to be able to stay secret, so that we can stay safe. You all heard what Carrow said, '_yeh'll live longer in Slytherin_', so this is really important. Thank you, and good night."

As the members of Dumbledore's Army filed out, Neville turned to Ginny.

"I was okay, wasn't I? I said the right thing?"

"Inspiring" Ginny replied, awed.


End file.
